Written Answers Wednesday 7 October 2009

Scottish Executive

Digital Technology

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the announcement on broadband for rural Scotland by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in a news release of 23 September 2009, whether communities will be able to bid to have their exchanges upgraded.

Jim Mather: I can confirm that the exchanges to be upgraded in the upgrade programme, as announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in the Scottish Government’s news release of 23 October 2009, are currently being considered by the Scottish Government in close consultation with BT. The exchanges under consideration for upgrade are those "Exchange Activate" exchanges, which are currently operating at full capacity for broadband or are approaching full capacity. As such, we will not be inviting communities to bid to have their exchange upgraded.

  I can confirm that the exchanges under consideration include ones located in the Argyll and Bute, Highland, Moray, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands council areas. The Connected Communities project, which is being delivered by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, is providing broadband connectivity to all areas of the Western Isles where a broadband service is not provided by the local BT exchange.

  We are not yet in a position to be able to specify the exchanges under consideration for upgrade, or any timescales, but we hope to be able to announce these shortly. Further information will be posted on our website in due course www.broadbandforscotland.co.uk.

Education

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its response to the consultation on supporting learners in higher education, Supporting a Smarter Scotland .

Fiona Hyslop: I am pleased to announce that the Government’s response to the consultation Supporting a Smarter Scotland will be published today. Copies of the government’s response plus supporting analysis has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 49347 and 49348).

  Copies of the government’s response plus supporting analysis can also be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/12/12121638/0.

Employment

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to open up training opportunities and apprenticeships for all.

Fiona Hyslop: Our training opportunities, including apprenticeships, offer a superb vocational grounding to people from all walks of life. It is essential that the targeting of these opportunities towards underrepresented groups is as effective as possible.

  In order to attract the widest possible participation, we expect Skills Development Scotland to ensure the effective promotion of opportunities and comprehensive advice and guidance for all individuals.

Environment

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its response to the consultation that was held earlier in 2009 on the Carbon Reduction Commitment.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government, together with the UK Government and the other Devolved Administrations, published a joint government response to the consultation on the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) today.

  The government response includes a number of important adjustments to CRC policy made in light of views expressed by stakeholders during the final consultation.

  Copies of the government response are available through the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 49375). It is also on the Scottish Government CRC webpage:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/climatechange/scotlands-action/EmissionsTrading/CRC.

Fuel Poverty

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how long on average it takes from initial request to the Energy Savings Trust to the installation of a new central heating system and how this compares with previous schemes.

Alex Neil: The Energy Assistance Package is a holistic approach to tackling fuel poverty that addresses both the home and householder, and includes services to maximise income, reduce fuel bills and improve energy efficiency. Stage 4 of the package offers a menu of enhanced physical measures to groups most likely to be fuel poor including central heating.

  For Energy Assistance Package applicants who had completed Stage 4 by the end of August, the managing agent has indicated that it took an average of 86 days from initial contact with the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre to completed installation of measures. For legacy, central heating programme applicants who received an installation between 6 April and 31 August 2009, it had taken an average of 119 days from application to installation.

  The average time for all installations under the central heating programme during 2008-09 was five months (151 days), compared to earlier years that had usually averaged around six months.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for dermatology services regarding (a) consultant posts, (b) non-consultant posts and (c) centres in the next five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of NHS boards to plan such services in order to meet the needs of their local population.

  The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to health services, including dermatology services, and has set a challenging target for NHSScotland that no patient should wait more than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by the end of 2011. NHS boards are making excellent progress towards the delivery of this target and have effectively delivered a year early the milestone targets of 12 weeks for a first outpatient consultation following a GP referral and for inpatient and day case treatment.

Scottish Youth Parliament

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of core funding is projected for the Scottish Youth Parliament over the next three years.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Youth Parliament currently receives Unified Voluntary Sector Funding (UVSF). A decision on funding in future years will be announced in due course.

Teachers

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Renfrewshire Council’s teacher access model for pre-school children, which has halved the number of teachers working in the pre-five sector in one year, is in line with new guidance published by the Scottish Government.

Adam Ingram: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26723 on 24 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .